"It's been wonderful. I've loved working here and my relationship with everybody, especially our staff," Herrick said to family, friends, colleagues and members of the legal community gathered in his courtroom, Department 1 at the Lake County Courthouse.

Herrick, 64, took the bench Jan. 3, 1995 after county voters elected him the previous November.

He had operated a private practice in Lakeport for roughly 16 years and previously spent a short time as a deputy district attorney for the Lake County DA's Office. He graduated from University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

"Some of my dearest friends are here, in fact probably all of them -- since I don't have that many," Herrick quipped, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

Lake County DA Don Anderson, who shared an office with Herrick in the early 1990s, commended the judge for his years of patience and understanding on the bench.

"He went to painstaking efforts to describe the law and explain his decisions to people who didn't understand the law," Anderson added.

Herrick said he planned to hunt and play more golf in the years ahead while also continuing to preside over cases throughout Northern California as an assigned judge.

Jeremy Walsh is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. Reach him at 263-5636, ext. 37 or jwalsh@record-bee.com. Follow him on Twitter, @JeremyDWalsh.